The Brave Pedestrian

Mumbai, 20th November 2017: Buying a flat from Lodha Group can land you in deep trouble with the Income Tax Department. The small print in Lodha Group's Application Form compels you to not deduct TDS on your installments as required by law. Lodha's sales staff and Application Form illegally compels you to delegate your legal responsibility to Lodha. Such delegation can land you in deep trouble. Not only will you invite penalties from the Income Tax authorities, but worse, it can lead to scrutiny of your tax returns. Nobody in his right mind wants to invite I-T scrutiny through careless actions, but that's what can happen to you if you blindly trust Lodha's paperwork!  As a flat purchaser, you have a statutory obligation under section 194-IA of the Finance Act to deduct tax and furnish details of your property transaction to the Income Tax department. There are no exemptions. Read this article to understand your obligation as a flat-purchaser. There is no pro...

10 th September, 2016, Cuttack: One is puzzled by t he accounting treatment for Justice Indrajit Mahanty's Rs 2.5 crore working-capital loan for his hotel, The Triple C . Lakhs of rupees are withdrawn and repaid every month in two SBI loan accounts in the name of "Justice Indrajit Mahanty" and strangely, not in the name of Latest Generation Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. , the company that has leased the hotel from him. As a High Court judge, Justice I. Mahanty gets a monthly salary of Rs. 1.35 lakhs, and therefore is liable to pay Income Tax. But repayment of principal plus interest could reduce or eliminate his taxable income. Suppose his tax returns are dodgy, can Income Tax authorities summon his lordship personally for questioning u/s 131 of Income Tax Act, and compel production of his lordship's books of account? We asked Mr Binoy Gupta , a retired Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (CCA), who holds a Ph.D. in Law. His reply was: "There are no exemption...